HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 2/27/2020BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING
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February 27, 2020
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Board Members Present: Kent Seldal, Jim Crandall, Larry Fickbohm, Susan Rosa, Jeremy
Oswald, Tom Gordon
Board Members Excused: Lona Schmidt, George Newago
Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Carrie Linder, Jeanine Spuhler, Sarah Traaholt,
Cheryl Hanson, Mark Ables-Allison
Call to Order and Introductions
Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:04 p.m.
Discussion and Possible Action - Review of the January 23, 2020 Meeting Minutes
Motion by Fickbohm, second by Newago, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed.
Public Comment – Limited to 3 minutes per person
none
Program Presentation – Red Cliff Indian Child Welfare (ICW), Gretchen Morris, Director –
Morris was unable to attend the meeting. An Invitation will be extended to present at the
March meeting instead.
In lieu of the ICW presentation, Linder presented on the value of the Home Delivered Meals
program.
Home delivered meals program currently provides approximately 100 meals a day to
functionally eligible adults in Bayfield County. Program is funded by federal, state and county
levy dollars.
Bayfield County is one of the five Wisconsin counties with the greatest percentage of residents
over age 60 in the State. Increases to the population of seniors are anticipated as Baby Boomers
age. They will all be of retirement age by 2030. There are concerns that the limited funding and
staff invested in aging services will be insufficient.
Monthly Section Reports
Support Services – Elizabeth Skulan for Nikki Revak
• Deanna Regan began employment on February 10th as receptionist. The support unit is
now fully staffed.
• Final 2019 invoices have been processed and paid. Staff are working on 2019 year-end
reports. Contracts for 2020 have been mailed.
• Support staff are tackling the backlog of scanned documents for Economic Support. The
backlog is due to hardware issues.
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February 27, 2020
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• Revak and Skulan worked with Nasi to choose flooring, paint and carpet colors for the
offices behind Aging and Disability.
• Revak worked with the regional coordinator to complete an application to extend the
collaborative Crisis Intervention Services for Youth (CCISY) grant for another year.
Family Services – Cheryl Hanson
• Welcomed Chris Beirl, Family Specialist. The Family Specialist works closely with families
on safety issues and to provide parenting education and mentoring so children can
remain safely or return safely to the home.
• Alcohol or Other Drug Abuse (AODA) Social Worker position still vacant.
• Family Services staff Marne Belanger, Stacy Schmidt, Sue Miller and Kelly Fitzgerald
attended Present Danger Training in Rice Lake. The training provides tools for assessing
safety in the homes of potentially endangered children.
• Attended Family Find and Engagement training with Melissa Huempfner. This training
focuses on how to connect kids in care with members of their support network, outside
of their immediate family.
• Fig Leaf Thrift Store provided a generous donation for children in protective placement
and licensed foster care providers. The donation will be used to provide programs and
items that aren’t covered by other funding.
• Attended Superior Days in Madison with Skulan. Presented to Department of Human
Services regarding: the need for higher Medicaid rates; the lack of providers; how
difficult it is to access behavioral health services; and other challenges in a rural area.
• There was an increase in Child Protective Services (CPS) cases this week.
Economic Support – Jeanine Spuhler
• Closed Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) desktop monitoring.
• Sarah Traaholt and Jessica Soulier attended WHEAP conference in February.
• Changes took place in February for the BadgerCare Plus program for Abled Body Adults
Without Children (ABAWD). Members must answer a treatment needs question; may
need to pay monthly premiums; and can complete a voluntary health survey that may
reduce the monthly premium.
• Candace Kraft and Mary Hamel continue to work on the state required new worker
training.
• Northern Income Maintenance Consortium (NIMC) received notice the consortium had
the highest payment accuracy in the State in 2019.
Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder
• Latest Caregiver newsletter has been printed. Mailing of 270 copies was completed last
week. Email distribution of digital newsletter copy will be distributed to interested
parties. Additional printed copies will be available at various locations in the community.
• The census map of Bayfield County shows how the Census Bureau will invite households
to participate in the 2020 census. Individuals with post office boxes will not receive a
census card. Census workers will visit their home. Each person not counted in the
Census represents approximately $1,500 in lost annual federal revenue per year. Aging
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and Disability staff are strategizing on to reach as many Bayfield County seniors as
possible, as seniors are a historically underreported population.
• Both the Birth to Three (0-3) and Children’s Long-Term Services (CLTS) program were
subject to a desk review at the beginning of this month. Consumer files were uploaded
to MetaStar. This is the first time the 0-3 program has been subject to this type of
review. Positive feedback has already been received from the 0-3 review. Results are
not yet available for the CLTS review.
• Hyde’s on Buskey Bay is no longer interested in providing meals for the Benoit meal site.
Hyde’s will continue to provide meals to the Iron River location. Hyde’s is willing to work
with DHS until a replacement is found.
Monthly Reports
Monthly reports reviewed and placed on file.
A. Financial
B. Training
Discussion and Possible Action – Appointment DHS Board member for Bayfield Area
Aimee Kaufmann notified DHS on November 2, 2019 that she and her family were moving to
Montana on November 18, 2019. As a result, she is no longer be able to serve on the DHS
Board. Mark Ludeking and Stephanie Haskins have submitted applications to fill the vacancy.
After some discussion, it was determined that Stephanie Haskins would be recommended to
the County Board Chair for an appointment to the Human Services Board.
Motion by Gordon, second by Rosa, to recommend the appointment of Stephanie Haskins as
the Bayfield area citizen member to the DHS Board. Motion passed.
Discussion and Possible Action -Appointment of Richard Kemmer to the Aging and Disability
Advisory Committee and Nutrition Advisory Council.
Richard Kemmer applied to serve on the Aging and Disability Services Advisory Committee and
the Nutrition Advisory Council. The Aging and Disability Services Advisory Committee
recommended Richard’s appointment for approval.
Motion by Gordon, second by Fickbohm to approve the appointment of Richard Kemmer to the
Aging and Disability Advisory Committee and Nutrition Advisory Council. Motion passed.
Discussion and Possible Action – Bayfield County Board Representative to the Woodland
Enhanced Health Services Commission.
Bayfield County is a member of the Woodland Enhanced Health Services Commission. The
membership allows Bayfield County DHS to place individuals at Clark County Health Care Center
(CCHCC) at a discounted rate. Each member county is required to appoint a representative who
is on the County Board of Supervisors and the DHS/HHS/SS Committee to the Commission. Tom
Gordon recently indicated that he will no longer be able to serve on the Commission. Board
member must only attend via telephone. DHS is seeking another qualified representative
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interested in serving on the Commission, so that a recommendation for appointment can be
made to the Bayfield County Board Chair.
Fickbohm showed interest in the appointment but suggested postponing the item until County
Board members are assigned to committees after the election. No action was taken.
Building Remodel – Update on building remodel
The remodel is moving forward. Walls have been framed. Electric and technology wiring is
complete. Drywall is hung. Project is expected to complete within the sixty-day timeline.
DHS Advisory Committee Openings – Vacancies, Citizen Member Governing Board Aging and
Disability Resource Center of the North to fill the vacancy left by Dick Compton; Service
Provider, Family Member, Advocate or Interested Citizen Member, Comprehensive Community
Services (CCS) Coordinating Committee to fill vacancy left by Linda Jorgenson; Family Services
Advisory Committee, to fill vacancy left by Susan Davis; Aging and Disability Services Advisory
Committee, to fill vacancy left by Suzanne Rooney. Progress is being made on the recruitment
for all three vacancies.
Superior Days 2020 Follow up – Short summary of event
Hanson and Skulan participated in the 2020 Superior Days event. Hanson and Skulan, along
with Douglas County staff, met with staff from the Departments of Health Services and Children
and Families. The agency meetings are particularly valuable and gives county staff the
opportunity to advocate for the North.
Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) Program Status Report
The CCS program recruiting for a half-time Registered Nurse. An anonymous complaint was
registered with the Department of Health Services Division of Quality Assurance (DQA) in
December. A recent review of records identified errors that were made when notes were
entered by one staff person that raised concerns. Software was updated that will help address
eliminate the error in the future. There continue to be issues with declining census,
recruitment, staffing, supervision, services available, provider contracts and reconciliation.
Hanson and Skulan are working with the County Administrator’s office to identify solutions.
CCS Complaint – Investigation Result will be reviewed
An anonymous complaint was filed with the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Division of Quality Assurance regarding CCS on December 4, 2019. The complaint had four
allegations: 1.) Changes to a Service Plan were not approved by a participant; 2.) A delay in
services occurred during program transition 3.) A change was made in service providers without
the participant’s approval; 4.) Bayfield County did not respond to a complaint that was filed.
DQA investigated. They pulled participant records from February 1 to July 1, 2019. Additional
information was requested on February 12th; February 13th; and February 17th. The
investigation resulted in two findings of program non-compliance. A copy of the documents
regarding the findings are included in the packet. The findings could have been avoided had
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adequate documentation been in the participant file. Skulan is developing a program
improvement plan that will be submitted to the state. There were no monetary repercussions.
Discussion and Possible Action – Support for hiring an additional Manager who is also a
Mental Health Professional
The CCS program is a complex Medicaid program that provides community-based, recovery-
oriented services to individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues. The program is
time intensive to administer and manage. When the program transitioned to DHS, it was clear
that the workload of supervising and managing the program could be done by existing
management staff on a short-term basis only. The DHS Management team simply does not
have the capacity to manage the CCS program without another member and still provide
quality services to participants. The Personnel Committee will be reviewing the request for a
CCS Manager at their next meeting on March 5, 2020. Position is paid by the State.
Motion by Gordon second by Fickbohm to go on record to support hiring a CCS Manager who is
also a Mental Health Professional. Motion passed.
Other (Informational Items)
A. Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc. handouts regarding the importance
and value of volunteer drivers in providing transportation to elders.
B. E-mail from Cheryl Hanson to Nikki Revak and Kathy Wolfram thanking them for a
comprehensive presentation to Family Services Staff.
Future Meetings
A. March 26, 2020
B. April 23, 2020
C. May 28, 2020
Adjournment at 5:30 p.m.
Submitted by Sarah Traaholt, Clerk III